Indian subsidiary Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) – which contributed 18.6% to global sales in the first half of the year – is looking at growing by 8.5-9% to post its best-ever sales of 600,000 units in the local market in the ongoing calendar year.
Unsoo Kim, Managing Director, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) said, “I see the Indian market very positively. Right now, United States is the largest market for Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), followed by South Korea. India is currently number three, but we aim to be number one in the near future.”
HMI contributed 15.6% to global sales in 2019.
Despite global headwinds – the war between Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine – demand momentum has remained strong in India. Sales of passenger vehicles in the local market, in fact, are expected to breach initial growth estimates and end at 8.5-9% higher over volumes of 3.79 million units reported in CY2022.
“I am confident India will do better than other countries including China and other countries in Western Europe (in 2024)”, Kim added. Hyundai has signed as asset purchase agreement to acquire the now defunct factory of General Motors to increase capacity, mid-term. Tarun Garg, Chief ke Operating Officer (COO), HMIL, said, “In the midst of global headwinds, India appears to be shining. Sooner, than later we will be inching closer to 20% (contribution to global sales). With the new capacity coming in, we will breach the 20% mark in the next 2-3 years.”More immediately, Hyundai Motor India, which introduced three new models across segments this year, said it has received robust response to the products helping it inch towards clocking record volumes in CY2023. While entry SUV Exter has got 100,000 bookings since its launch in July this year, EV Ioniq 5 has registered sales of more than 1000 units (double of initial estimates of 500 units). Sales of midsize sedan Verna too has gone up by 71% despite lukewarm demand in the overall segment.
Garg said, “This year our total sales (domestic and exports) will be a record 760,000 units, the highest seen since 2018 when we had sold 710,000 units. The festive season has been good and we are looking positively on growing in the upcoming calendar year.” Growth is being driven by sports utility vehicles in the overall market, Garg said. Hyundai Motor India expects to close the year with its range of SUVs chipping in 60% to total sales.